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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Carpe Diem this Holiday Season!

Opportunities come and opportunities go. How many times I've wondered, "what if I had gone to Berkley instead of San Diego State" or "what if I had said yes to that job opportunity." Weighty life choices are not always easy to make. But when the fun ones appear... Carpe Diem, seize the moment!

Courtesy Psychology Today

Being a fan of live Improv, one of the first rules at improv is don't deny. There aren't too many rules in improvisation, but if you say no to your partner, the scene can come to a complete stop. Why wouldn't the same hold true for opportunity? So many opportunities happen while socializing over food and drink.

Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary - John Keating, a character played by Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (1989)

All of us are fairly consumed at the moment with making the holidays just right. Travel arrangements, cooking, buying gifts, decorating...I could go on and on. But at the end of all the planning and execution, it's about being together. Oh yeah... and being present. When I'm in the "present" space and let go of a bit of control, I'm usually rewarded by unexpected moments.

This last Thanksgiving was a perfect example. I planned enough by having all our ingredients handy and hoped all the family members would fall into their usual roles to help. If not, that would be okay too. Low and behold, my dad kept popping in the kitchen. Enough reason for my mom and I put him to work. He gave us lots of laughs making pies. I'm pretty sure he's never had a hand in making a pie and had we all three not gone with the flow, he probably never would have.

My husband is an ace at seizing the moment when one strikes. Thank goodness, I'm along for the ride. One post softball game Mexican restaurant visit, one of our friends on the team had her dad, Clive, visiting from England. John, the extroverted one of the two of us, chatted him up and the next thing I knew Clive had invited us to stay with he and his family in the countryside of England. And we did! What an extraordinary experience visiting the countryside with them. We would never have ventured off the beaten path to the steep hilled village of Clovelly, truly pub crawled or experienced a home cooked meal with such a lovely family had we not said "yes" to our scene back at the Mexican food restaurant.

Photo of Clovelly courtesy Infobritain.co.uk

This holiday season, prep to your little heart's content. But don't forget to relax, quiet the mind, enjoy those around you and make your life extraordinary when the opportunity presents itself.

1 comment:

Aaah, so nice. I remember once when a television network asked John if he would be willing to fly to...and John said Yes, before the sentence was finished. What an extraordinary opportunity you had! I'm going to keep your advice at hand throughout these fun and wonderful days leading to Christmas.- Barbara

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Welcome! What is Mise En Place About?

Contentment. It can only be derived if everything in life is in its place just as a great meal can only be realized if everything is ready to go...Mise En Place. As I ponder this analogy, I am discovering my obsession with food mirrors the hard earned lessons in my life.

mise en place[MEEZ ahn plahs] A French term referring to having all the ingredients necessary for a dish prepared and ready to combine up to the point of cooking.